Posted on 08/28/2010 5:30:04 PM PDT by Fitzy_888
Aug. 27--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled seven public hearings on the agency's proposal to regulate the disposal and management of coal ash from coal-fired power plants.
States have jurisdiction over coal ash disposal regulation, and the oversight is hit and miss, according to a media release from the Environmental Integrity Project, which recently released a list of 37 toxic contamination sites across the country, contaminated by coal ash dumps.
(Excerpt) Read more at istockanalyst.com ...
What We Do: (Excerpt)
“EIP is actively involved in reviewing and challenging permits at coal plants, coal waste storage facilities, and kilns where coal ash is used to make cement. At the state and federal level, EIP advocates for effective, consistent regulation and enforcement at all stages of coal’s life cycle.”
Just the latest part of the Administration’s plan to ruin the economy...economic stagnation never seemed so good.
For heaven's sake don't these people ever lighten up, always looking for something to regulate!
I worked thirty one years in a coal fired power plant using Powder River coal. The ash comes in two types. Bottom ash, ground up and is used for road beds and land fill around pipelines. I've used it to fill holes all over my pasture where old fruit trees were pulled up years ago.
The other is fly ash, The ash goes through an electrostatic precipitator and is removed before it goes up the stack. 99.5% of all ash is removed. It is then hauled to a storage facility, surrounded by berms and dumped on the ground. When it gets wet it sets up just like concrete.
People use it to set fence posts and some have used dry fly ash for driveways by dumping, spreading and then wetting down the ash. It is also used as a filler in cement as it fills the pores left by the setting concrete making a very strong concrete.
One of the men I worked with said the bottom ash has a high fertilizer rating if just dumped and spread on the land.
Years ago a local town used bottom ash as a base for paving the unpaved streets in that town. Some old biddy got a summer cold and blamed it on the ash, causing an uproar and the plant ceased to sell the ash to the town.
Meanwhile, the wildlife thrive on the area where the bottom ash is flushed. We have large bass, bald eagles and lots of other wildlife in the area.
The EPA is looking for “Job Security” as no one I know of has ever been injured by working in the bottom ash. With fly ash a mask is recommended.
The envirowhackjobs want it regulated as a hazardous waste.
Well, fly ash does have its risks. Trace amounts of toxic elements, including radioactive ones, tend to be present in varying levels (which is probably one reason coal-fired power plants have traditionally emitted more radiation than a properly-run nuke plant, but I digress).
IMHO, though, the solution is not tighter controls that will drive up costs, but more market-oriented solutions for the ash. Nearly half of the stuff already ends up being reused. Apparently (according to Wiki) the stuff has applications from making cement to mine reclamation to converting human waste into usable fertilizer. I can think of plenty of applications at home and abroad for something like that.
Great post!
The purpose of the EPA is to cripple American industry
My former company had a plant in California. They kept tightening the regs and we made process changes to meet those regs. When we ran out of process changes we had to install electrostatic precipitators. A first they allowed us to dispose of the collected dust in regular landfills.
Then they declared the dust hazardous so we had to build a secure area at the plant to store it and it had to be disposed of at secure landfills which really raised the disposal cost. We finally shut the plant down throwing 500 people out of work.
Basically, all concrete contains fly ash, as fly ash has been employed universally in concrete production as an admixture for more than a century.
What would be the implication drilling and/or grinding any existing concrete, wouldn‘t the dust created then be a hazardous material? What will that cost?
***What would be the implication drilling and/or grinding any existing concrete,***
Just standard precautions (dust mask)for normal concrete works for me. You might check to see if the concrete you are grinding on was mixed with fiberglass to make it stronger.
I would be more worried about the fiberglass than fly ash.
A little fly ash on the Post Toasties never hurt anybody.
Hail, hail, the gang’s all here!
Getting ready to do a very expensive renovation to my coal-fired plant, and it will probably be required equipment for all coal burners. We’re getting ready to install a baghouse which will keep the sluice water out of contact with the fly ash, thus eliminating carryover to the pond. EPA has threatened to close our lake to fishing if we don’t install this stuff.
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or of the ping list
yes and undermine states rights in the process. another grab. any news on the restriction of bullet lead?
It seems like all the regulators like EPA, OSHA, etc. are able to do all the nutty things their little zero experience college ed brains have wanted to do all along. Now they are free to do it all because nobama is clueless.
This may last a day or two longer than “bullet and sinker lead”.
***A little fly ash on the Post Toasties never hurt anybody.***
We aught to know! We have had it in our hair, clothes, nostrels, eyes, mouth, lived in it, breathed in it, shoveled it! And what do you know! We are still alive and kicking!
This sounds great!! More jobs!! hey, I can apply to be a baghouse operator. Wouldn’t that be . . . . something.
Actually, it looks like I’ll be the “baghouse operator”. I’ll be going to Welsh in the next week or two to learn about the system. RSO is already in the plant preparing to remove the roof and housing to the top of the ash silo...
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